An Australian influencer, Emma Claiir, is receiving backlash for revealing that she killed two cats as a child.
The 28-year-old was speaking on her podcast Simply Chaotic when she said, "I killed my cat … My sister did not speak to me for months and my mum was f*****g fuming at me, and yeah, I killed it. I was swinging my cat around. Like, I was thinking it was just a stuffed toy. And I accidentally let go of it. And then, if you really want to know more about me, I also killed my best friend's cat. I just want to say, I'm giggling about it now, but this happened years and years and years [ago]. And, like, I was a f*****g little child."
The bizarre confession quickly sparked outrage which led her to release a statement in which she insisted that her comments were "a bit of light humour".
"To the people offended by my story in today's simply chaotic episode that I just shared… It happened 21 years ago. I was a small child… accidents happen and you all need to chill. I hope that you are not the same person you were at nine years old and I can confirm that after that accident I have been the mother to multiple cats including my baby Fred," she wrote.
The apology was not accepted and she found herself amidst a controversy. Cosmetic brand MCoBeauty soon dropped her as an ambassador and released a statement, "It has come to our attention that Emma Claiir recently relayed a story on her podcast discussing an incident of animal cruelty from her childhood. We were dismayed by this story, and will no longer be working with Emma in [the] future. Here at MCoBeauty, we take instances like this extremely seriously and do not condone animal cruelty of any kind."
Several other brands also have announced that they will not be associated with Emma in the future.
The influencer has released another longer statement in an attempt to turn things in her favour. She wrote, "Hello friends, I would like to jump on here and firstly apologise for the story mentioned in episode one of simply chaotic. I am well aware that the story was not light humour and in fact very serious. It was not intended to come across the way that it did as it was simply just a story from the past about an accident that was made as a little kid but I can see how it has come across like that."
"I have taken time to think about my actions and want to confirm that I do have empathy about the situation and it's not something I am proud of as it really hurt myself and my family 21 years ago. I am a loving person to all things living and have since been the most amazing cat mum to multiple cats and dogs. I am now also a loving mum to a little boy and have definitely grown up from that little nine-year-old kid," she added.